Deiveson Figueiredo is a massive underdog going into his UFC 324 clash with Umar Nurmagomedov this Saturday in Las Vegas, getting to as high as +1000, and believes that all that will make his victory even more spectacular.
“Deus da Guerra” is a former UFC flyweight champion who has gotten close to the 135-pound title multiple times, but always loses on what could be the final fight before the shot at the gold. UFC 324 represents another opportunity, as his former for Petr Yan now sits at the top of
the division.
“I want to fight, I want to win, and I want the opportunity to fight for the belt,” Figueiredo told MMA Fighting. “Especially against Petr Yan, a guy who beat me in our first fight, and I’d love to have a second fight with him, for sure.”
The UFC has yet to announce if longtime champion Merab Dvalishvili will earn an immediate rematch with Yan, as they stand 1-1 against each other. Figueiredo says Dvalishvili “is a special guy” and will probably get a shot at the belt if that’s what he wants, but “I’ll be right there in line, and I hope to get my opportunity.”
To make his case clearer, the Brazilian hopes to become the first to stop Nurmagomedov in MMA.
“If he gives me the opening, I want to submit him,” Figueiredo said. “Umar is a guy who fights in a very slow, grinding way, always taking people down, and he’s going to fight someone who doesn’t fight like that. I’m a guy who comes forward, I fight intelligently, but I aim to win decisively, by submission or by knockout. That would definitely earn me a title shot.”
“Deus da Guerra” fought Yan in the main event of UFC Macau in November 2024, snapping a three-fight winning streak over Rob Font, Cody Garbrandt and Marlon Vera with a unanimous decision in favor of the Russian. Figueiredo doesn’t feel he was at his best that night, though.
“I fought him and trained at home, you know?” Figueiredo said. “I have a gym in Belém and I also have some athletes we’re developing there, so I used those kids to train, to help me in training, you know? It was a camp where I didn’t feel much pressure, I didn’t really get pushed hard in sparring, you know? Every day I’d go to the gym and my level compared to my students was on another level. My students, my training partners.
“But in a second fight with Petr Yan, I would definitely leave Belém and do a camp in Natal. I just did my fourth camp in Natal, and I would certainly do it there again for Petr Yan. That was one point I would fix, brother. Fighting a guy like him, I need high-level guys in my camp so I can show my true potential. Especially against someone of his level, a special fighter.”
Figueiredo moved back to Natal after his October win over Montel Jackson at UFC Rio to prepare for Nurmagomedov, working under wrestling coach Lenny Lovato and training with the likes of Patricio Pitbull and Patricky Pitbull at the Pitbull Brothers gym.
“Every day you go to the gym and you face guys at the beginning of camp and they’re hitting you, hitting you,” Figueiredo said. “There comes a point when they can’t beat you anymore and you realize how much you’ve evolved over the camp. And that happens to me a lot.”
